Blog

I'm Old-fashioned

March 18, 2017

“That’s ok, we’ll find it online” were the words I heard as they left. Sometimes I wonder if a world without stores is in our future. As a kid, I used to tag along with my dad to record stores, observing him as he chose LP’s for his collection. I went on to work at Tower Records on 82nd Avenue and became the music buyer for Jazz and World. It was a source of pride that customers would come to me as a specialist in those genres. Now there are barely any record stores left. Along with the dissolution of retail outlets for recorded music, the music industry itself seems to have been made anemic by digital sales, with songwriters and composers only seeing a fraction of the royalty payments that their predecessors saw for the same work.

There is a lot to say for our purchasing power. Shopping locally can have a profound effect on a community. It supports local jobs. Products are often made locally.

Maybe I’m just old fashioned but one of the things I find most frustrating when browsing product online is that we can’t touch anything. Being able to see something with our own eyes, touch something with our own hands, even smell, taste and hear. I invite you to Karuna to smell our handmade soaps (Palo Santo Douglass Fir Bar or Pacific NW Bar). Come hear the raw, undigitized sound of a small brass bell. Enjoy nibbles during our monthly Art Reception (first Wednesday of every month)!